The Unexpected Advice
by Love me hate me 29
Summary: A little push in the right direction is just what Naruto needs and that is what Jiraiya gives him. An advice which changes him. Starts after the Tsunade arc. R&R.


**A/N**- Hey guys this is my first Naruto fanfiction and I am trying my best to write it and the top authors of this site beware because I am here. Lol. So please review once you have read it. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated but little reviews like" Good story" or "Nice chapter" obviously increase moral so plz **Read & Review**

**Chapter 1**

**After The Fight**

Sasuke watched in astonishment and horror the condition of the water tank which was misfortunate to come before Naruto's Rasengan. The emotion 'jealousy 'which had rooted itself deep into Sasuke after Naruto's fight with Gaara came back with a greater force threatening to consume him. He in a flash remembered the Uchiha massacre; Itachi's return and demand for Naruto and being called weak by his brother." Why? Why does he want him? How is Naruto progressing so fast? Why the power difference between me and my brother never lessens and feels like it is growing more and more?"

"Aaaahh! Why?" So many questions and he didn't even an answer for one. "My brother no not brother, the traitor had stolen his clan and family from him, his birth right, he would not go unpunished" he said punching the wall.

Sitting on the roof, his Jounin sensei sadly watched Sasuke run away with open right eye and decided to follow him later but first he needed to meet Obito.

-xx-

Naruto quietly stood up and dusted his clothes. "Damn! Sensei and Sakura had to interfere at the last moment! I was going to show Sasuke-teme that I am not the dead last anymore and am equal to him in terms of power." His time at the academy flashed before him

"Failed again? Hahahaha. You are the dead last and will always remain so."

"Hey dead last, my moms says you are a monster. So, that is your new nickname along with dead last."

"So the almighty dead last Monster, Devil. Demon, trash fails again? The dead last can't even make a proper bunshin"

Sighing he saw Sakura standing there still shaking a little. Walking towards her he remembered the starting days of team 7, how they had there missions, Sakura hitting him when he said something stupid or well even when he didn't say anything like that or when he insulted Sasuke or when he asked her for a date or even when he praised her. It was kind of confusing what he should have said so he didn't get hit. Just thinking about it made his head hurt a little.

He didn't hate Sasuke. It was far from it. He could have even said that he considered Sasuke as a brother he never had but seriously he hated the guy's attitude. But today he had just crossed the limits.

**-Flashback-**

"Hey! Ero-sennin!" Jiraiya's eyebrows twitched a little as he watched around to see if anybody else heard that.

"What is it brat?" he replied as he made sure that his already tarnished reputation among women didn't suffer more on hearing a brat half his size calling him a pervert.

"Hey I am going to see Sasuke in the hospital I will meet you later. Okay?" Naruto said.

"Ya sure go ahead brat and remember what I have taught you. Always analyze your surroundings deeply and without biasing or having any previous impressions and always try to look underneath the underneath. Be a little perspective. You never analyze your surroundings that's why everyone calls you a baka " Jiraiya replied.

"Yes! Kakashi-sensei tells us to do the same. Well if two people are telling me the same thing it must be correct. But considering that both of you are perverts it might lead to something perverted." Naruto said taking his thinking pose.

Jiraiya stifled a laugh on seeing the look on his future student's face. With a light bump on the said student's head he reminded the boy to go and meet his teammate.

Naruto nodded and went on his way promising Jiraiya to meet him later.

While on the way Naruto was recalling the day's events. He had seen Sakura take some apples for Sasuke. "She never brings anything for me when I am at the hospital" Naruto wondered. He entered the hospital without any incidents except the few glares and sneers.

He asked about Sasuke's room and proceeded to meet him. As he entered he put up on his usual cheery smile. "Hey Sasuke, how are you doing?" He suddenly sensed the tense environment and Sasuke glaring daggers at him.

"Hey? You both were doing something? Did I come at the wrong time?"

"No, we weren't doing anything" Sakura replied shakily

"So, why are you staring at me like that?" Naruto asked Sasuke bluntly.

Suddenly he noticed that there was a plate on the floor and apple slices scattered all over the room and Sakura still shaking a little. Putting two and two together he quickly understood what was happening in the room and he got seriously annoyed. "Why does he get everything and he rejects them as they were nothing?". He had taken several beating from Sakura, tried to do everything nice to her, encouraged her when she was down, helped her when she was in trouble and I never get the same treatment from her which Sasuke gets and he still gets away with hurting her." God! Now he was really mad and he really wanted to kick Sasuke's ass.

Then he heard the source of his anger speaking.

"Fight me" said Sasuke.

"What?" Naruto replied believing he was dreaming.

"FIGHT ME" Sasuke replied this time quite loudly. Happy to get what he wanted Naruto replied in affirmative. But then he heard Sakura's pleading whispers and controlled his anger and tried to calm down but when he saw Sasuke stepping on one of the apple slices lying on the ground then he knew that the dam had broke and Sasuke would have to pay for that.

**-Flashback End-**

A little smile covered his face as he looked at Sakura. Sakura calmed down a little when she saw it. "Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out. He really wanted to tell her not to interfere the next time they fight but he couldn't bring up the courage to tell her that but instead just stayed quiet and started to walk away. Suddenly he heard her speaking softly but there was a little venom in her voice "It's your fault".

"What?" Naruto just stopped and asked her. "It's your **FAULT**" a little louder this time. It is your entire fault. Had you not come in this team I would have been alone with Sasuke-kun, if you were not on this team and so annoying and distracting I would have had Sasuke-kun in love with me from a long time. Had you not trained Sasuke-kun would not challenged you. You always have to show-off. It's your entire fault." Sakura nearly shouted knowing the argument which she was putting up was void.

Naruto just stood there for a half a minute looking at her analyzing what she had just said

"Well….. Ok." He replied simply. He had had enough emotional drama for today and was in no mood for putting up with Sakura's meaningless chatter. It hurt a little but her words were just not comparable to the venom in the villager's voices when they talked about him. He had become emotionally insensitive to hurt and pain long ago. They didn't beat him or went on putting poison in his food. But being ignored, humiliated, sneered, and laughed at and refused services had made the life of a 6 year old orphaned boy who was seeking acceptance a living hell.

Saying this he left her alone on the rooftop. She watched him go and then fell to her knees, fresh tears running from her eyes, she had witnessed not only the team 7 breaking but also saw her friendship with Naruto on the edge. He never reacted like that. He would have been hurt or would have been angry with her.

"Stop crying like a baby!" her inner shouted to her.

"Why should I? I just saw my team breaking and Naruto breaking our friendship" she replied.

"He's Naruto we can persuade him later on by going in a date with him. Now, go to more pressing and urgent problems and go and find Sasuke-kun. He needs our love for now." Her inner shouted.

"Yes, you are probably right." Sakura replied and she ran away to find Sasuke.

-xx-

Naruto was walking aimlessly on the streets and he never missed to catch the occasional glares although he used to ignore them but today they were all the more irritating and disturbing. He never totally understood why all the people hated him for what was inside him. He knew that people has lost their brothers, sisters, fathers and other family members during the attack and it was human nature to put the blame on others but even after 14 YEARS they hadn't figured out that he was the jailor not the kyubbi itself. He sighed and continued to roam around until he was well away from the most populated areas of the village. Now thinking about his team 7 he realized that he shouldn't have spoken to Sakura like that and would apologize later on. As he was wondering about this he heard Kyubbi's roaring voice-

**You are a damn fool can't you even see that your so called friends are trying to use you and nothing else? You saw how that Uchiha friend of yours tried to attack you with an assassination technique. Had not the old toad taught you anything you would have been in the afterlife and the whole village rejoicing that the demon child was killed by the great and the last Uchiha.**

"He was just angry and nothing else and nobody was hurt. But wait since when are you able to talk to me freely?"

**Sure and you also heard what that pink banshee was saying. Your so called crush always takes side of that Uchiha and always beats you or rejects you and as for the answer of your second question I have always been able too but I never felt the need.**

"What? But why now"

**That's for me to know and for you to guess.**

"You stupid furball shut up and let me do whatever I want and I can take care of myself and her name is Sakura and she is my friend. She may care about Sasuke more but one day she will be above the childish crush. I know she cares about me." Said Naruto angrily.

"It might be little" Naruto admitted. "But… She will change."

**Oh! Sure you almighty brat! But next time when she beats you I won't even heal you. Hmph!**

Sighing in relief that the fox decided to shut up Naruto continued his process of thinking.

"Aaahh! My head hurts. How can somebody think so much? Stupid Ero-sennin and his stupid ideas"

**And I thought you were learning something good. Looks like your pea size brain can not process much idea except that ramen.**

"AAHH! You stupid fox don't you have anything else to do? And by the way ramen is something you cannot insult in front of me. Ramen is the most precious thing in the world."

**Sure. Do you even remember how you started eating ramen? It was because it was the cheapest thing available and those father and daughter didn't overcharge you and treated you nicely. Now I don't have time to argue with you. Use your brain like that old toad told you to and you would do fine.**

'Well, that is true.' Naruto thought. He ate fast as a habit that he could finish his food before somebody took it from him and wore orange so everybody acknowledged his mere presence. He was always scared that everybody he had made friends with will die and he will be alone again. He knew that pain very well and hoped nobody had to experience that and inside he was happy that he had shown Gaara a path away from his loneliness.

He sighed audibly and hung his head and retreated to his thoughts. While thinking he stumbled upon something, watching his surroundings he realized that he had reached a remote corner of the village near its outskirts. It was a beautiful pendent shaped like a rose decorated with several jewels and in the center of the rose laid a letter 'T' surrounded by 'love' and 'luck' written in kanji. Naruto scanned his surroundings to see it there was anyone there who had lost it. Finding nobody Naruto kept it in his pocket reminding himself to give it to the village's 'Lost and Found' department tomorrow.

-xx-

Sasuke sat near a tree on the outskirts of the village thinking about the past. Memories of Itachi's Mangekyon sharingan haunted his mind. "I have to get powerful. It is my destiny to kill Itachi and I will fulfill it."

He sighed. Naruto had grown powerful. I can't believe he is the same dobe that was the dead last in the class.

'He believes that he can be equal to me; it can never happen and will never happen too.' He thought. But in his heart he knew that the line between them was getting close to non-existent. He sighed again. He knew that was true but due to arrogance present in the Uchihas' blood itself it was hard to accept it. He sat there watching the sun set as he burnt the leaves in his hand using his fire charka.

Unknown to him the Sound four were watching him from a distance.

"So he is the one Orochimaru-sama told us to bring to him, doesn't look too tuff to me. He is just a weak brat." Sakon said.

"Yes. Orochimaru-sama just wants him for his Sharingan" Kidomaru said.

Tayuya just listened to the two quietly while thinking about her last meeting with that snake bastard.

**-Flashback- **

"**Orochimaru-sama"** Tayuya bowed.

"Ah! Tayuya. You're here at last. I called you to inform you that after this mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha you have to report at the base in Iwa. We will continue more experiments on you curse seal to upgrade it and you better complete this mission as fast as possible." Orochimaru told her while laughing on seeing the terror cross over her face.

"Yes, Or-Orochimaru S-Sama "replied Tayuya while stuttering. She remembered the first time the experiments were conducted on her and the pain was excruciating. She knew that the bastard was a sadist and enjoyed watching other people in pain and above all was a fucking pedophile. She had stayed away from his and Sakon's advances for the last 8 years of her life. She also knew refusing meant instant death.

"As y-you wish" She added.

**-Flashback End- **

"It would be better that I die on this mission" She thought.

She then saw the famous Copy-Cat Kakashi was having a chat with their target.

-xx-

"What do you know about losing your family and the people who you love?" Sasuke nearly shouted.

"Yes. Sasuke you are right. I don't know about losing people who I love." Kakshi replied calmly.

Sasuke raised his head to meet eye to eye with Kakashi and detected no sarcasm, no anger, and even no emotion.

"Because I have already lost all of them" Kakashi replied with his trademark smile which caused him eye to become U shaped.

Sasuke again looked up in wonder that how a person who has lost all can be so calm and composed.

"How?" Sasuke asked unable to form further words.

Kakashi knew what Sasuke was thinking and replied "It is because I have found other people who were precious to me like you, team 7, this village and my friends. I would do anything to keep them safe. This revenge will not get you anywhere Sasuke. You will leave everything to get revenge and if you get it what after that? Who will accept you after you have left them? Think about the moments you have shared here think about your friends. Can you leave them or betray them for a revenge that would leave you empty?

Sasuke remembered his time with his team and missions they went together in. How one risked their life to help another. He looked up again to find that Kakashi was gone.

Rubbing his forehead he thought "He just made it more difficult.".

-xx-

Tayuya heard this conversation sitting nearby and wondered how easily that bastard snake was able to break people's minds and make them leave their loved ones. Well that wasn't the case for her as she was alone when that snake came to her. Her family had been slain by some Kumo ninja as Orochimaru had told her and that he had picked her up from the trash nearby in sympathy. According to her the words sympathy and snake didn't much go together. Now she really wished that she died in this mission.

"Tayuya stop daydreaming we are moving in to capture him" Kimimaru hissed quietly.

Taking her 'mess with me and I will kick your ass' façade she lied to him" I don't want to get my hands dirty on such a weakling you three take care if him"

"Your choice" he told her sighing. "Let's move guys."

After the fight and all the taunting they managed to make Sasuke angry and left him alone with instructions to meet them in the morning.

-xx-

Naruto finally came to the conclusion that thinking about a topic more than necessary was too troublesome and sighed for what seemed the hundredth time.

"I can only wait and watch. The point is if I follow Ero-sennin advice on girls than it would be too troublesome and if I follow it on blind Kyuubi hating fanatics it will become too much troublesome.

Geez! I am getting mad and I have started acting and speaking like Shikamaru. Enough for today" Saying this he changed his path to that to his home.

-xx-

In another part of the village a certain women was tip toeing into the Hokage's room. Carefully and quietly she tip toed to a section of the room and pressed an invisible lever hidden by a powerful genjutsu and after that entered a secret code to the vault which opened with a hissing sound. On seeing the contents she giggled maniacally.

"Shizune, what are you doing in my office AND what are doing with my sake?"

"Oh! Tsunade-sama I was just seeing how beautiful they were! hehehehe" she replied carefully treading on thin ice.

Tsunade's eyebrows twitched. "Shizune it would be infinitely better that you run away as fast as you can" she replied calmly eyebrows still twitching.

"Oh-Okay. Bye!" saying this she ran away.

Tsunade sighed and closed the vault changing its code and left her office. "I must drink it before Shizune gets her hands on it."

-xx-

Sakura had searched the whole village looking for her true love but was unsuccessful. Then just before sunset she saw him hurrying towards his home and called him but he ignored her and kept moving. She thought of following him but ultimately let the idea slide. She recalled the past days events and morning fight and sighed. He will leave tonight. She knew it, she could feel it and she would stop him.

-Early morning-

Sasuke packed all his belongings and then saw the team 7 picture with a heavy heart. They were his friends. Although he may never believe it but the deep down in his heart he knew it. He wondered if things wouldn't have been so bad then he would have been their friend. If Itachi hadn't killed his clan then things would have been different. Thinking about it he threw the team 7 photo on the floor breaking the photo frame with a crash.

He jumped out of the window with his backpack and proceeded to the gate which had its face towards Otogakure. But then he saw Sakura standing before him. His heartbeat increased dramatically but he kept a straight face at her unexpected presence.

"Don't go." She muttered.

He walked away from her. He knew he couldn't trust his voice now.

"You won't get anything from getting revenge" She nearly shouted

He calmly looked around seeing if anybody had heard her. Satisfied that he was safe for the time being he told her that he knew.

But then he heard her saying "Take me with you."

His mind clouded. Numerous thoughts rose up in his mind. She was ready to leave her home, parents, village for him? And where I am going to take her to a snake bastard who turns people into abominations? She was saying something but he couldn't hear her. He knew he had to go. Then she told him that once he had called her annoying. He tried to remember but couldn't so he told her that he didn't remember anything like that. Then he saw her crying, he knew he couldn't see it anymore and she wasn't powerful enough to follow him.

"You really are annoying." he replied.

With that he disappeared and reappeared behind her and softly said 'Thank you' in her ear for being his friend as he knew that after that he would break all bonds with them. He then hit her were the neck and shoulder joined and she fainted. He carefully placed on the bench nearby and went of to meet the Sound Four.

-xx-

"Will he be coming?" Kidomaru asked

"He will come. He needs power and believes that only Orochimaru-sama can provide it and there are only few which can fight the influence of the curse seal." Sakon replied confidently.

'It would be better for many people if he didn't come' thought Tayuya.

She looked at Jirabou and observed that he was extremely quiet.

"Hey! What happened Fat ass? You are too quiet" she asked him.

"Nothing much and mind your language Tayuya. Ladies don't swear." He replied.

"Who told you I was a lady you mumbo-jumbo?" she replied defending her swearing. Jirabou just shook his head.

"Somebody is coming. All of you hide" Sakon hissed.

They quickly took cover behind a rock and masked their chakra signatures. The speck on the horizon quickly reached them and started looking around.

"What? He came?" Tayuya thought. "This guy has everything- people who cared about him, respect, friends, support, a teacher and a place to call home and he left it all for some power? What kind of a shithead is he?" she wondered.

"So Sasuke-sama you are here. I am very sorry for our last fight. We were doing that due to Orochimaru-sama's orders. Now you are our leader please command us." Sakon bowed

Tayuya was astonished by how they were buttering this guy to fall into their trap and more when she saw him nodding.

"Lets go" Sasuke ordered and they followed.

-xx-

**-Next Morning-**

After discovering Sasuke's betrayal, ordering a team of 1 chunnin and 4 gennins, sending for help to their ally Suna and prepration for Rock Lee's operation Tsunade was tired and remembered her resolve to drink her sake before Shizune discovers them again and hides them. So, she opened one bottle of tasty and expensive sake sent by Suna in order to maintain relations between the two villages. One became two which became three and so on. In the end the Hokage was snoring with her head on the table.

Kakashi woke up early in the morning and reached there for his mission to find Tsunade sleeping. He chuckled lightly and summoned a dog to wake her up as he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her anger when she woke up. The dog started licking her face slowly and Tsunade woke up still sleepy.

"Oh! It's you Kakashi. What do you want?" Tsunade asked swaying lightly.

Kakashi sweat dropped slightly and replied "Hokage-sama I am here for my mission"

"Oh! Why didn't you tell me earlier and why have you made so many clones of yours in my office?" Tsunade replied still confused.

Kakashi sweat dropped a little heavily and took the S-rank mission and left as quickly as possible not knowing that Sasuke had left the village and Naruto had gone to get him.

-xx-

Naruto and Shikamaru were running at full speed after the red haired girl who had the container in which Sasuke was kept. The girl even when carrying the heavy weight was difficult to catch. After some successful moves and quick thinking by Shikamaru they were able to reach her only to find that she had passed on the container to another guy and was preparing to fight them. Shikamaru decided to fight her and Naruto went ahead.

Tayuya saw Naruto going ahead and wondered if he was even capable of fighting Kimimaro. She wished him luck in her mind and concentrated on her fight.

-xx-

Naruto on the other hand while chasing the guy carrying Sasuke was wondering about his promise.

**-Flashback-**

He stood at the gates ready to leave and was waving Bushy-brows goodbye and good luck for his operation. Then he saw Sakura approaching him. She was kind of shivering and her posture and swollen eyes told him that she must have been crying. Observing really helps I will thank Ero-sennin later when I meet him.

"Hey Naruto."

"Hi" he replied carefully.

"I know that we are not on speaking terms anymore but please bring him back"

"I will try" he said, noticing she wasn't even thinking about anything else. Had it been someone else going on the mission she would have said the same thing to them. He was no one special.

'Ahhh! Why do I observe so much? It hurts. I was better a baka and dumb.'

"Please I beg of you to bring him back" With that she started crying and sobbing loudly.

Naruto watched her sadly. He wanted to reject, say something else, lie to her that he didn't care but couldn't. In the end he lightly smiled and said "I will bring him back that's a promise of a lifetime" Inside it hurt him, hurt him bad but he maintained his façade. This façade had helped him prevent beatings, this façade helped him in people noticing him and now this façade made him a joker whose life was itself becoming a joke.

"Say Sakura, I will bring him back but do you want me to be back from this mission?"

He received no reply.

A joke. How true.

**-Flashback End-**

Remembering this he increased his speed to catch up with his opponent. He followed him till they reached a clearing where the boy put the container on the ground and faced him.

After some moments and severals Kage Bunshins destroyed Naruto saw that the his opponent was fighting with bones and tried to find a way to handle him but was interrupted when Rock Lee came to his rescue and told him to follow Sasuke and that he would handle the bone guy.

Sighing he dashed towards the direction where Sasuke had gone and asked him to stop.

He observed the area and found it to be quite breathe taking. On the cliffs were too figures facing each other. One he recognized to the First Hokage and the other he didn't recognize.

Sasuke was watching him with a smirk on his face.

**Ooohh! So this happens at last.**

'Damn fox and your damn timing. Go do something else.'

**No problem. Just exclaiming the irony of the your venue of fighting. The Valley of The End.**

"The Valley of the end?" he whispered.

"Very nice dobe! This means you didn't sleep through the entire history lesson." Sasuke taunted.

"Shut up Sasuke! I am not here for any talk. Lets go back home." Naruto shouted

"Make me dobe." Sasuke taunted again.

"Sasuke lets go! Everybody is waiting for you back home" Naruto told him getting frustrated.

"Home? Which home? I am an avenger. I have no home, no friends and no other goals. I have lost my family. You don't know how it feels to lose one. You never had one." Sasuke shouted angrily.

Naruto just shook his head.

"Yes you are right Sasuke. I don't know how is it like to have a family but when I see Iruka-sensei I feel if it same as seeing a father, when I see baa-chan I feel if it same as if I had a grandma and when I see you I feel if it I the way as to have a brother. I didn't have any family but as time went by I got one and I will protect them at all costs." Naruto replied not even stopping once.

Sasuke gulped "He considers me a brother? Me? Still when I am leaving him?".

Suddenly Sasuke clutched his shoulder. The pain was excruciating. Anger immense anger filled him and the scene of Itachi killing his family replayed in his mind. He knew he had to leave to have revenge.

"Then let me break these bonds and after this I am going to come back and kill your self made family so as you also understand the pain." Sasuke replied laughing and attacked Naruto.

Naruto blocked the punch and replied with one of his own still stunned by what his old rival had just said.

"You will kill my family? Will you? Then let me show you how far I can go to protect them and then you can choose if you want to be a part of it." Said Naruto as the red charka surrounded him.

After exchanging couple of blows and Sasuke calling upon the curse seal's power and Naruto calling upon more of the Kyubbi's charka it all came down to the fight between the Rasengan and the Chidori.

When the two techniques clashed, a dome of energy was formed and blinding light rose up from the lake and suddenly there was a large blast. The blast caused the nearby animals to run away, birds to fly away and the water in the area to evaporate. After that there was silence, pure silence, deafening silence.

Two figures were found to be in the area. One was lying quietly on inch deep water and breathing slowly with a gaping hole on his shoulder and was bleeding immensely. The second one had flown away by the blast and had hit the cliff behind him with full force and had his shoulder shredded and was still alive.

Naruto opened his eyes, adjusting to the bright light and tried to move and only to experience extreme pain in his shoulder. Memories about the fight flooded his mind and his head hurt. Then he suddenly remembered Sasuke and tried to get up only to find the pain in his shoulder spiking. Gathering all his willpower he sat and observed his surroundings. During the battle he had given up the idea of intentionally missing his Rasengan because he had observed and had concluded that Sasuke wouldn't do so and would leave or probably kill him.

He saw a figure lying 15 meters from him with a quite big wound on his shoulder and was bleeding. Naruto shot up on seeing this and ran (dragged himself) to Sasuke. He observed the wound and found out that it was bad enough.

**Well that showed him our power.**

Naruto ignored him and tried to put Sasuke on his other shoulder only to fall again.

**Are you mad you stupid mortal? Are you trying to kill yourself? The injury you have got is a big enough problem and even I am having problems repairing it. His attack was an assassination technique and it even touched your heart. Don't you even dare do any stressful work!**

Naruto again ignored him and got up to his feet and carried Sasuke on his shoulder and started walking limping towards Konoha.

-xx-

Tayuya laid buried under the trees wondering if that is how her death would occur. She smiled thinking about her wish being fulfilled, she had wished to die. It was quite funny that whenever she had wished for anything else in her life she would have got the exact opposite and now when she had wished for her death she was getting it that easily. She tried to remember the time when she was happy, the time she had spent with her mother. Then she remembered the pendent which her mother had given her. Checking she realized that the pendent was missing from her neck. Another irony, she had wanted the pendent to be with her during her last breaths and now even that was missing. She closed her eyes waiting for death to come.

Suddenly she heard something-

"Hey you? You alive?"

"God likes to joke with me a lot. Now instead of a peaceful death I get to die by enemy hands." She thought.

"I am talking to you. Are you alive?"

"How many times have you seen a dead person moving and crying in pain" She replied sarcastically starting to look up. She heard a weak chuckle.

"Now let me help you get out of there"

She looked up to see who her helper or say executioner was and saw yellow. Yellow? She blinked her and then saw yellow again then red and then orange. Blood? She tried to focus. Then her brain started processing the inputs it was getting. Ok, a blond guy having a gaping hole in his shoulder wearing orange clothes and carrying… carrying someone.

She had seen that guy somewhere. Chicken Butt hair style….hmm

"Looks like death is making me crazy" she unintentionally said a little loudly.

"No, it isn't. But the blood loss is. Now wait a sec." saying this he carefully placed the black haired guy down.

**Hey mortal! You got some suicidal tendencies?**

'Kyubbi this is not the time and place for me to argue with you' Naruto replied while bending to place Sasuke carefully on the ground. He winced in pain.

"We will pick these logs now. Ok?" Naruto told the girl.

"We?" came back the reply.

"Yes 'we'." _**Kage Bunshin no jutsu**_

As the charka was consumed to make a clone, the pain increased exponentially causing him to fall to his knees.

"**You are going to give me a heart attack" Kyubbi roared**

"You don't have a heart" Naruto replied while trying to pick himself. His body was running on pure adrenaline.

Picking himself with the help of the kage bunshin and focused his attention towards the red haired girl who was watching him with wide eyes.

"Hey! Hey! You ok there?" Naruto called her out.

"Why? Why are you doing so much effort just to kill me?" the haired girl asked him.

"Kill you? I am rescuing you" Naruto put her point aside a as case of a tree trunk falling on her head.

"Uhhh?" She replied.

"Never mind. Now I am going to pick up the logs. Ok?" Naruto asked here and getting a reply in affirmative.

All three used all the force they could use to push away the logs causing strain on the red haired girl's fractured legs and forcing out a cry of pain but she still kept pushing. At the end both of them were exhausted.

"I think both of my legs are broken and I have some fractured ribs too" She informed him.

"Fine, the Kage Bunshin will carry you."

He bent again and lifted Sasuke. Sweat broke of his forehead and he started feeling dizzy.

Till now Tayuya had come to her senses and allowed the blonde's kage bunshin to carry her. She bit her tongue in pain as the Kage Bunshin picked her up carefully.

"Don't worry we will reach there soon" Naruto told her.

The Kage bunshin followed Naruto with Tayuya in his arms. Till then she had realized who the blonde was carrying on his shoulder.

"Why are you saving him? He betrayed you and as I can see he also tried to kill you" she asked amazed by the blonde's stupid attitude. "And why are you saving me from dying? What can you possibly gain from me? You will just kill yourself."

"I am doing this because both of you are my friends" Naruto replied as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Me? Your friend? I have just met you. How can I be your friend?"

Naruto paused for a second then replied "First, when I saw you under those logsI saw the loneliness which has haunted me for all my life in your eyes and second you just thought about me above your own gain and that makes you my friend."

Hearing his explanation she wondered that either this guy's past was worse than mine or he is a shithead who has gone mad after having an injury like that and would hand her over to the interrogators once they reached the village. Also when the news reaches Orochimaru, he will use the curse seal to kill me. I any scenario I am dead.

She sighed and then observed the blonde and decided to at least know his name before dying.

"Hey blonde! What's your name?" she asked quietly. Her legs were killing her.

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki" he replied in a shaky voice.

Suddenly the clone which was carrying her poofed out of existence just before lowering her down so as to minimize the damage and the Naruto in front of her fell to his knee.

Biting down the pain she softly asked him "Hey you okay?"

Not receiving a reply she asked him again" Hey you okay? If you can't continue you can leave me behind. Don't think about me feeling bad or anything."

"What's your name?" came the reply in the form of a question.

"Tayuya" she told him.

"So Tayuya, listen to me. I am never going to leave a friend behind especially one who has suffered as much as me. We are going to make it. All three of us." Saying this he called upon all his strength and shouted _**Kage Bunshin No Jutsu**_**.**

A clone appeared and picked up Tayuya and dashed towards the village along with the real Naruto in front of her as she watched in amazement.

As the village gates appeared in sight he picked up more pace and closed his eyes.

Opening them, he saw the village gates nearing and the last of his strength giving up.

He saw the gate guards seeing him as he fell and darkness surrounded him.

**So, did you like my first chapter? Lengthy? Fine? Please please Review. **


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